Dayton Right to Life Calls for Investigation Following Possible Forced Abortion

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Today, Dayton Right to Life filed complaints with the State Medical Board of Ohio regarding a possible forced abortion that occurred at a Dayton abortion facility in June 2015. A recent public records request to the Ohio Department of Health reveals that the facility, Women's Med Center, was cited last June for violating Ohio Administrative Code 3701-83-07 (A)(2), which states, "Each patient shall be allowed to refuse or withdraw consent for treatment."

"This facility clearly violated the very choice the abortion industry claims to stand for," said Paul Coudron, executive director of Dayton Right to Life. "Informed consent is a crucial ethical principle in the practice of medicine, no matter the procedure. Women's Med Center, Martin Haskell and the abortionist who performed this abortion need to be held accountable for violating such a basic and fundamental medical ethic as informed consent."

• The patient had been at the facility on June 10, 2015 for an initial evaluation. The patient was given a dilator and instructed to return the following day for the procedure. She was also given six Percocet (narcotic pain medication).

• The patient arrived at 10:30 am on June 11, 2015. The patient arrived with the help of a friend. The patient could not walk on her own or hold her head up once placed in a wheelchair. The patient’s speech was slow and slurred. The patient was unable to keep her eyes open and her eyes were twitching when opened. The patient was unable to hold a conversation.

• The patient arrived in a “somulent state; responsive to strong stimuli; but otherwise not able to walk, or to make coherent conversation.”

• Staff at WMC confirmed that these were signs of recreational drug use.

• The patient’s friend reported to WMC staff that the patient had taken “two Soma and several Percocet and probably both Suboxone and perhaps some heroin on her way in”.

• The physician consulted with two other physicians, including the medical director and the facility’s transfer physician, and decided to perform the procedure.

• Staff at WMC administered Narcan, a drug used to counter opioid overdose, but only after the physician performed the abortion.

• The patient never lost consciousness but was semi-conscious with low blood pressure during the procedure.

• The physician then determined that the patient needed to be transferred to the hospital for further evaluation, monitoring and detoxification from the suspected drug overdose.

• The physician was aware of the patient’s lack of cognition and inability to participate in her care prior to the procedure.

• There was no documentation that the patient was asked whether or not she would like to withdraw consent due to her altered state.

“Lack of cognition, slurred speech, indication that she had taken heroin--any one of these should have been more than enough to signal to the staff that the woman needed real care, not an abortion," said Devin Scribner, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. "This tragic story is an eye-opening look into the abortion industry and why Ohio Right to Life has consistently upheld the importance of informed consent. Ohio's abortion lobby forfeits whatever tinge of credibility it has if it refuses to condemn what happened at Women's Med Center."

Last year, the Ohio Department of Health denied Women's Med Center a request for a variance from Ohio law, which requires ambulatory surgical facilities to secure a transfer agreement with a local hospital for cases of emergencies. The facility's failure to secure proper back-up care, approved by ODH, could result in the facility's closure. ODH is currently reviewing the facility's appeal to remain open.